“That means we had a good night,” DeMelo said. “It’s easy to play with Brauner, he’s so solid in his game and he’s always in the right position. I think we did a pretty good job together considering we haven’t played with each other a lot.”

DeMelo, in his first game with the Sharks since Feb. 22, played a season-high 17:42 and got some time on the power play as San Jose opened a crucial six-game homestand with a win.

It was San Jose’s first game since Thursday when Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Matt Nieto were hurt in the loss to Arizona.

Both are considered day-to-day, although DeBoer said Nieto, with a hand injury, will likely be out of the lineup longer than Vlasic (lower body). Both are expected to be back well before the start of the playoffs in mid-April.

In the meantime, DeMelo is getting another chance to play. The Sharks traded for Roman Polak on Feb. 22 and moved the veteran defenseman alongside Brenden Dillon for their third pair. DeMelo’s had to bide his time since, as he’s been shuttled between the Sharks and Barracuda over the last three-plus weeks. He played two AHL games recently, on March 13 and March 16, looking better in the second game than he did in the first.

“Yeah, I think going down and playing a few games with the Barracuda helped my compete level and to be ready,” DeMelo said. “I think the first game I played down there was a little rusty, and then I played on Wednesday and felt pretty good, and carried it into today.”

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer liked what he saw as his team limited the Rangers to 15 shots goal over the final two periods.

“We all know how valuable (Vlasic) is but I thought the depth of our group showed tonight,” DeBoer said. “I thought Roman Polak was outstanding and DeMelo coming in after being out for three weeks gave us a great game. That was a good sign.”

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Tommy Wingels was partially pleased with how he played Saturday. He delivered five hits and blocked two shots, but took two of the Sharks’ three minor penalties as he was on a line with Dainius Zubrus and Nick Spaling.

It was Wingels’ first game since Feb. 18 when he hurt his shoulder in a game against Florida.

“Some good shifts, some plays that as I got fatigued probably want back,” Wingels said after the game with his left shoulder wrapped up. “You do so much when you try to emulate what the game is going to be like, but you really can’t. Until you get in there for the first time to put yourself in those game-like situations, you don’t know. I felt good, no worse for the wear, healthy and ready to go here and help this team.”

Wingels got called for tripping Rangers’ forward Mats Zuccarello 2:14 into the second period. But Wingels made the best of a bad situation, as he got tangled up with Tanner Glass and did enough to get Glass to take a two-minute roughing penalty to nullify New York’s would-be man advantage.

“I was happy it resulted in a four-on-four and not a shorthanded opportunity,” Wingels said. “Obviously you take two penalties in your first game back, that’s certainly not what you want to do. I’m going to take the positives out of it and look beyond that, and feel good about it, and be ready to go tomorrow.”

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With his two goals Saturday, Joel Ward is one goal away from 20 in a season for the second time in his career. Ward scored on the power play off a nifty feed from Joonas Donskoi in the first period, then added an insurance goal with 12:36 to go in the third.

The only other time Ward reached 20 goals in a season was when he had 24 in 2013-14, in which he also finished with a career-high 49 points.

“I’ve always believed in myself. You have to be confident playing this game or you couldn’t play at this level to be honest,” Ward said. “So, for me, just keep believing in the process and keep doing the right things and good things happen.

“It’s good to set goals for yourself, which I do. To try and achieve them is another thing. Just keep belieiving in that process.”